"Operation Chromite" Lee Jeong-jae stimulated by Liam Neeson2016/08/24, Source,
Actor Lee Jeong-jae said he didn't get a good feeling after starring in "The Assassination". The role of Yeom Seok-jin he played there is the captain of the police bureau of the provisional government and a Japanese spy. He lost 15 kg for the movie. Some people pointed fingers at him. This time, he starred in the movie "Operation Chromite" as Captain Jang Hak-soo of the Navy Intelligence Department who is also responsible for the success of Operation Chromite.
This time he is a favorable character. We met the actor in a café in Seoul on the 25th last month for an interview. He said it may look like he is starring in two movies with similar generations but "Operation Chromite" is not a war movie so he decided to go along with it. "I was more interested in the story of heroes that we didn't know about. When I played Yeom Seok-jin I wondered what affect it would have on my image, but I felt it so I hope my image changes again this time",...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.08.19 ~ 2016.08.212016/08/22,
Local literary adaptations take the top spots...
Kim Seong-hoon's action thriller "Tunnel" retained the top spot over the weekend and moved its total admissions count now to over 5 million. "Tunnel", based on So Jae-won's novel of the same name, was released on 10 August and shot to number one during its first weekend out with almost 2 million admissions. The foot traffic has tapered off since last weekend, but Kim's claustrophobic thriller was still able to maintain a clear lead by attracting more than double the stubs of its nearest competitor, another local literary adaptation,...More

[Guest Film Review] "The City of Violence"2016/08/20,
Jeong Tae-soo returns to his hometown to attend Wang-jae's funeral, an old friend of his. While there, he meets his old friends, Seok-hwan, who is still a very strong fighter and Jang Pil-ho, who used to be the weakest member of the gang, but has now become a high-ranking officer of the local mob. Tae-su and Seok-hwan decide to investigate the murder of the old friend, in an enquiry that soon brings them against the whole town, among rumors that Pil-ho had something to do with it,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.08.12 ~ 2016.08.142016/08/15, "Tunnel" dethrones "The Last Princess" and takes the crown...
Kim Seong-hoon's action thriller "Tunnel" arrived last week and managed to capture 40% of box office pie and dislodge "The Last Princess" at the top of the pile. Last weekend Heo Jin-ho's historical melodrama (aka "Princess Deokhye") attracted 1.1 million filmgoers across 964 screens to take pole position; despite following that good opening with another 966,862 admissions here (21%), which moved its total tally now to 3.5 million ($25.6 million), Heo's latest was forced into second place after the "Tunnel" arrived on the scene and attracted 1.8 million admissions ($13.8 million) from 1,091 screens,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Operation Chromite"2016/08/06,
Hak-soo (played by Lee Jeong-jae) is a noble South Korean soldier who leads a deep spy unit into Incheon island to uncover vital intelligence regarding whatever defenses, natural or manmade, may make an amphibious attack on the island practical or impractical. Gye-jin (played by Lee Beom-soo) is the at-times comically evil North Korean commander who opposes Hak-soo's efforts. That's the basic outline for "Operation Chromite". The movie is a tale of good versus evil- no context necessary,...More

Lee Jeong-jae is busy for the rest of the year2016/05/12, Source,
Actor Lee Jeong-jae is attempting at being a multi-player. He stands alone ever since he finished contract time with his company and is now at the busiest time of his entire career.
Lee Jeong-jae's year is fully booked. He is starring in various numbers in Korea and China. Not only is he acting, he's also thinking about various projects too,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Make It Big" + DVD Giveaway2016/02/27,
Seong-hwan (played by Song Seung-heon), Woo-sup (played by kwon Sang-woo), and Jin-won (played by Kim Young-joon) are three high school students with a dream in life- they're gonna be huge! All-powerful! Rich! Sexy! And bros forever! How they actually intend to accomplish these goals when the boys are dumb and immature is not really explained. Then, as luck would have it, fortune rains upon them from above, so the boys quickly try to figure out how to cash their winnings,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Moorim School" Episode 112016/02/22,
"Moorim School" episode 11 is all about looking within to find the answers. There is a big competition going on and everyone is vying to win, but winning isn't the answer. To attain the keys to the Chintamani is the outward goal, but the true teachers at the Moorim School want their students to find strength within to protect those dear to them. Si-woo is struggling to control a rare power that he possesses,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Moorim School" Episode 52016/01/26,
"Moorim School" should be cut down to forty-five minute episodes so that the filler material isn't so oppressive. The way the show struggles, the recent disputes between the producers, JS Pictures, and the broadcasting station, KBS, come as no surprise. There is so much recap material scattered throughout the episode that it drags and the ratings reflect that. But between the elongated brooding moments and the flashbacks there are a few tasty morsels to gnaw on. The martial arts aspect of the school hasn't been played up, however this episode finally made use of it and it was extremely cool,...More

Liam Neeson pays respects to MacArthur statue in Incheon2016/01/15, Source,
As Hollywood superstar Liam Neeson joined the shooting of the Korean film "Operation Chromite", the code name for the Battle of Incheon, which took place in September 1950, shortly after the Korean War broke out, the movie is drawing keen attention in Korea.
According to Taewon Entertainment, the producer of the movie, the British action star arrived in Korea on Monday and spent a busy day on Thursday, preparing for his role as American General Douglas MacArthur, the war hero who spearheaded the Battle of Incheon,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Last"2015/10/24,
Trying genres outside of the historical, family, romance and melodrama realm is never an easy challenge in Korean drama. New audience does not simply appear out of nowhere, it has to be convinced. Pre-production as a system has also been an unfavorable one for ratings, with viewers unable to control a show's development. Yet series like "Last" are eye-opening. "Last" is not only good, it also reveals the flaws in the system and potential in the industry,...More

Outrageous 'makjang' dramas distinguished by cast, producer and writers2015/10/20, Source,
The story of the affair of a brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
This is the story of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" which might seem like a makjang story. The Greek story of Oedipus who kills his father and marries his mother, is also another good example of a makjang drama in the year 2015.
What's the standard of telling a makjang drama from one that's not? There's no answer to that as the boundary is vague like the proposition of 'art and indecency'. It all comes down to being subjective, but in the sign-less reality, makjang stories end up being outrageous, sometimes irrational, and even ridiculous to keep the viewer hooked,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Beauty Inside"2015/09/05,
Woo-jin (voiced by Yoo Yeon-seok) is a man with a unique problem- every time he wakes up in the morning, Woo-jin is an entirely new person. Young, old, man, woman, beautiful, ugly, Korean, foreigner. To some extent there are advantages to this. We see early on that whenever Woo-jin hits the sweet spot of young / man / beautiful / Korean, he goes out with his buddy Sang-baek (played by Lee Dong-hwi) to hit the bars and get laid. One night stands are quite easy when a changing face makes it quite literally impossible for any woman to ever have any hope of finding him again,...More

A time to reform the drama production environment2015/09/03, Source,
Being at a drama set, it's obvious that many people are passionate and working hard on a drama. They struggle to make a single scene look better and are always busying themselves. This makes one keep silent or be in awe.
A drama production scene is like a warzone. The staff behind the camera work so hard to make the artists and storyline stand out. They spend a night up just for a scene that doesn't last a minute. This is because a drama is almost live-time. They take short naps, eat irregularly and suffer from various stress for a couple of months because of this,...More

[Spoiler] 'Last' Park Ye-jin calls Lee Beom-soo an evil2015/08/28, Source,
On August 28th's episode of JTBC Friday & Saturday drama, "Last", Kwak Heung-sam (Lee Beom-soo) came to pick up Seo Mi-joo (Park Ye-jin), who was drinking alone at a cart bar and she poured out spiteful words to him.
On this day, Kwak Heung-sam asked Seo Mi-joo how things had gone with lobbying with CEO Yoon's son. Seo Mi-joo answered, "I met him and lured him and exchanged business cards", while she was looking at him hatefully. Kwak Heung-sam said, "Don't hate me" and "It's you who accepted the offer under the condition you get what you wanted to know". He mentioned that Seo Mi-joo had made the deal so she could find out the address of Ryoo Jong-goo (Park Won-sang)'s daughter,...More

'Last' Lee Beom-soo in bloody fight scene2015/08/18, Source,
On August 18th, behind the scenes still images of "Last" actor Lee Beom-soo's penthouse action scene have been revealed.
Kwak Heung-sam (Lee Beom-soo)'s bloody penthouse action scene from the episode last week presented the refreshing sensational feeling to the viewers. While he had been making his presence felt strong throughout the drama, his desperate fight brought the catharsis to the viewers,...More

[HanCinema's Drama First Look] "Last"2015/08/08,
A lot of dramas include action and crime, but there is usually more to it than the world of crime itself. Revenge, justice, survival and other manner of more grand elements are the goal of those stories. "Last" is an odd show in the sense that it approaches new topics and from a slightly different angle than what most shows go for. What has been quite a nice start can now hopefully evolve and succeed,...More

'Last' 1st Broadcast, 70 minutes filled with Yoon Kye-sangs' deadly charm2015/07/24, Source,
The Korean drama "Last" filled the whole 70 minutes of its first episode with Yoon Kye-sang's, the protagonist, deadly charms. The first episode of the JTBC's Friday-Saturday drama which aired on the 24th portrayed the story of Tae-ho, who was a successful stock investor played by Yoon Kye-sangs, falling to the bottom because of a single mistake. He was going for one finial big deal before returning to America and started a 25 million dollar investment scheme even involving loan sharks. However, the scheme fails because of one person' betrayal and he is caught by the loan sharks,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Preview] "Last"2015/07/18,
After romantic melodrama 'My Love Eun-dong', jTBC has something quite different coming up. "Last" is not looking like the kind of show which drama audiences are used to, but its cast, approach and the fact that it is based on a popular webtoon might deliver something substantial or at least entertaining. On the other hand, it might be shallow and messy, but one can hope,...More

Posters for "Last" revealed2015/07/14, Source, The second poster and character posters of the new JTBC drama "Last" has been revealed.
Unlike the first poster, the second poster features all five of the main characters in the drama,...More

[HanCinema's Actor Spotlight] Lee Beom-soo2014/12/20,
Maintaining a steady career in entertainment is not an easy feat. Maintaining a steady and popular career across media and earning respect is even harder. People can become stars, but stars fade. And those who usually support these stars rarely get their chance at the spotlight. However, many actors manage to find their way around these issues and earn their spot and the prestige that comes with it. Lee Beom-soo is definitely one of those actors,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Giant"2014/12/20,
When considering the genres of Korean drama, melodrama is without a doubt one of the major ones. Even shows not belonging purely in it include melodramatic tropes, concepts and even tone. From the downright soapy to the romantic to the more workplace oriented, melodrama comes in many forms. "Giant" offers a mix of elements and is not without its faults, but it is also nothing short of an epic series and great display of melodrama done well,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Descendants of Hong Gil-dong"2014/12/13,
Family is very important in South Korea, but also in its entertainment. It often plays a big role in many genres. 'Descendants of Hong Gil-dong' combines a family comedy with action and adds to it an ensemble cast capable of handling both. The trick to making such combinations work is making each one matter in the progression of the other. The end result here is pretty satisfying,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama"2014/08/09,
There are a lot of reasons why some dramas just go wrong. They range from lacking material or creators to schedule issues to extensions and really remind us how difficult the current system is to create in. To create something good and have it remain good. It is also often impossible for outsiders to know exactly what went wrong aside from seeing the bad result of it. Sadly, 'Triangle - Drama' has been plagued with many issues, lacking material being what ultimately makes it all fall apart,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 26 Final2014/07/29,
The drama's last interesting storyline question is resolved almost immediately. So, now that Yang-ha has been taken care of, how does "Triangle - Drama" spend its last hour? Not doing a whole lot I'm afraid. Bok-tae hides in a hole for awhile as the other characters try to figure out where he is. And I really do mean awhile- every possible trick is extended to stretch out this search, including a subplot about a minion Bok-tae has apparently been abusing this whole time?,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 252014/07/28,
The stage is set for the final engagement in the last episode, and it occurs to me, I'm not sure there ever was a plan. Ever since getting out of prison Dong-soo and Yeong-dal have mostly just been running counter-attacks instead of actually pitching their own operation. I'm not sure we ever actually even got to the part that made it clear why it was necessary for Dong-soo to learn casino stuff. It's just more Bok-tae. Hard to imagine he used to seem like a credible threat,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 242014/07/22,
It's fortunate that the goons working for the good guys are more competent than the ones working for the bad guys. Honestly it's pretty ridiculous- it took an entire episode of bloviating for them to manage one incompetent assassination attempt. By contrast, Yeong-dal's team is immediately on the case for an effective retaliation that pretty much nips most of the gang-related conflict in the drama right in the bud,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 232014/07/21,
I think I've finally figured out what Sin-hye is bringing to the team. She delivers all the messages. No, seriously, I paid close attention to see if Sin-hye ever actually does anything aside from just sit at a table, talking to one person, then to appear again later sitting at another table (or the same table) talking to a different person about what she just talked about to the last person in the line,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "The Divine Move"2014/07/19,
Tae-seok (played by Jeong Woo-seong) may be a high level Go player but the guy's also a bit of a wimp. His limitations become all too clear when an important play by proxy game with a gangster ends in disaster. Tae-seok, left for dead and eventually imprisoned, only has one path available to him. He leverages his Go skills to learn how to fight like a gangster, finally coming up with a plan and a team to emasculate the gang boss both by beating him at Go and also in a fistfight,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 222014/07/15,
I hope you liked Yeong-dal's ambivalence about his new brotherly bonds last episode, because this time it's pretty much the exact same thing all over again with Yang-ha. I do appreciate that the script itself admits it's hard to know what to call these guys anymore. I've been sticking with their new names since those are the ones that are used most of the time, but at the same time, their being brothers is pretty much the whole point of the drama,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 212014/07/14,
After some vagaries Dong-soo makes clear to Yeong-dal that Yang-ha is the last brother, and from this point Yeong-dal spends most of the episode sulking. This is pretty understandable, given that they've spent most of the drama being horribly antagonistic to each other. Although I did find it curious that the scene where Yang-ha sent Yeong-dal to jail wasn't included. Personally I'd think that was the most humiliating put down in the relationship, not the one where the little brother mocks Yeong-dal's English,...More

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.07.11 ~ 2014.07.132014/07/14, Prime gives way to primates as a new king is crowned... "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", the sequel to the 2011 film "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", recently hit Korean shores and dislodged Bay's "Transformers" at the top of the pile. Matt Reeves' film captured more than 47% of the box office pie (1.3M admissions) over 919 screens to break the hat-trick "Transformers" was eyeing. Still, Bay's bombastic blockbuster held firm in third, while Jo Beom-goo's drama "The Divine Move" stayed umoved in second place with 925K (23%),...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 202014/07/08,
And once again, gambling makes up the dramatic stakes on which the hopes of our characters are hinged. Given the narrative set-up this was probably inevitable. The bad guys were going to have to take on some sort of counter-move in order for there to be any kind of dramatic tension. At the same time, though, when the outcome is quite literally determined at random, it's difficult to take any kind of reassurance in the ability of the heroes to save the day,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 192014/07/07,
Yeong-dal gets to work on organizing some quality schemes here. It's the kind of gangster style corporate warfare I can really get behind- it's sneaky, and taking advantage of various character's personalities. But most significantly, it's not a direct attack against any of the antagonists. They're clearly tense and waiting for team Dong-soo and Yeong-dal to pull something. However, the immediate offensive objectives are vague, so for the most part everyone's caught off guard,...More

The Divine Move (2014)2014/07/04, Source,
"The Divine Move"
Genres: Action and Crime
Running Time: 118 min.
Directed by: Jo Beom-goo
Starring: Jeong Woo-seong, Ahn Seong-gi, Lee Beom-soo, Lee Si-yeong
Synopsis: Professional Go player Tae-suk loses his brother to infamous underground gambler Sal-su after losing a high-stake game. He is framed for the murder of his own brother and is locked up in prison. He vows for revenge and trains ferociously. After serving his seven-year sentence, he gets in touch with his brother's former associates to get back at Sal-su and his men,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 182014/07/01,
The bad guys really need to have a meeting about the terrible quality of their plans. First an assassination attempt, and now a kidnapping? Really? All of this just to counter Dong-soo and Yeong-dal's plan? It bears repeating here- we barely even have any idea what their plan actually is. These are desperate actions taken by men afraid they're about to lose everything. It's absolutely nonsensical for the story to go this direction when hardly anything has even happened yet,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 172014/06/30,
And now this is a revenge drama. Granted, we always knew that Dong-soo had a specific grudge against Bok-tae, but for the most part Dong-soo has been pretty good about having that just be one bullet point on the giant list of terrible things Bok-tae does on a daily basis. This opening of this episode clearly demonstrates, though, that it's what Bok-tae did to Dong-soo's family that really makes him a bad man. The other criminal enterprise stuff not so much. Dong-soo only just recovered from an assassination attempt and that on its own was apparently not a good reason for revenge,...More

[HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...2014/06/28, K-Films Coming Soon:
★★★★★ "The Divine Move": Tae-suk is framed for his brother's murder after losing a high-stakes game of Go and vows revenge. (07/03)
★★★ "One Night Only": Two short dramas ("Night Bug" and "One Night") by directors Kim Jho Kwang-soo and Kim Tae-yong-I. (07/03)
★★★★★ "Mourning Grave": A boy able to see ghosts is stigmatised for it. He moves to rural school and befriends a female ghost but soon his classmates start disappearing around him. (07/03)
★★★ "BLACKDEAL": A documentary by Lee Hoon-kyu about public service and privatization in the developed world. (07/03)
★★★★ "Navigation": Three members of movie club take a trip to an isolated village and get lost. They witness a terrible accident and then follow a mysterious navigation device they find. (07/03),...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 162014/06/24,
Plenty of time is spent at the hospital this episode, as characters agonize over whether or not Dong-soo is going to make it. Thankfully that question is resolved at the end, so hopefully we don't have to endure any more of these extremely sad regretful lengths of the soundtrack which establish how awful the whole situation is. I'm upset that Dong-soo was stabbed less because I care about the character and more because these scenes are so obnoxiously overwrought,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 152014/06/23,
Well, huh, apparently the incompetent out-of-nowhere assassination attempt really was as stupid an idea as it looked. I had expected the drama to just gloss over the details of the assassination so we could pine over Dong-soo for awhile. And for a fair amount of time that's exactly what "Triangle - Drama" does. We get a full flashback of all the big story events between Dong-soo and Yeong-dal and oh, it's all so terribly terribly sad,...More

[HanCinema's Idol Actors] Ham Eun-jeong and Yoona2014/06/21, Ham Eun-jeong
Idols who go into acting often have limited choices to begin with. Smaller roles, music-related roles and other less challenging ones. Ham Eun-jeong has had a few drama and movie parts in the 9 years she has been working as an actress and having had the chance to act in different genres and roles, her skills have matured nicely due to that variety and consistency,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 142014/06/17,
Yeong-dal's melodramatic memory recovery session is actually pretty effective, all things considered. Presented at the beginning here without context, all I see is a crushed child who's lost his entire family. Then we get back to the rest of the drama and I'm left remembering that even though the unknown relationship between the three brothers is the entire hook of "Triangle - Drama", it doesn't seem to actually have anything to do with the revenge / romance plot currently in session,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 132014/06/16,
As determined as "Triangle - Drama" was to skip past the prison stuff, in this episode it falls right back to the same slow pacing we'd seen up until this point. There's not even any gambling. Mostly it's just meetings where the bad guys discuss how suspicious it is that Dong-soo is obviously up to something, or where the good guys discuss the plan in just vague enough terms that we'll still be surprised whenever it finally gets around to happening,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 122014/06/10,
This episode marks a shift to a radical new direction for this drama. Specifically, a more generic one. Dong-soo and Yeong-dal now have to work together, unambiguously in the cause of justice, to take down Yang-ha and Bok-tae. You might be thinking that this will be somewhat difficult, what with Yeong-dal being in prison and Dong-soo with his hands tied in a similar fashion. Well, the drama helpfully skips a whole year just so we can get right back to this plot thread,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 112014/06/09,
There's a nice contrast here between the physical appearance of the prison and Yeong-dal's attitude. So far as we can see, it's a relatively pleasant place. Outside people are playing soccer, and inside they're playing Go. Then Yeong-dal shows up and starts a fight for no reason. The man is deadset on living out his gangster fantasy wherever possible, and quickly learns that while prisoners aren't as vicious as they are in the movies, they still have very little patience for rude aggressiveness,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 102014/06/03,
The best laid plans are all toppled down thanks to unforeseen circumstances. Well they're not really unforeseen circumstances. We know who all these characters are, we know they all have their own agenda, and we know that they like to keep secrets from one another because why not? But they don't know that about each other. So when an opportunity comes up for one to betray the other to help another, inevitably most of the cast gets blindsided,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 92014/06/02,
There's a fair amount of irony this time- let's start out in the romantic department. Yeong-dal makes some fairly standard loverly inroads on Jeong-hee. He's got himself a little money, so he treats her to a nice night, all that stuff. And all this time I kept wondering about Yang-ha. That guy's made of money. So why is it that Yeong-dal's pretensions at a high class life come off more impressively than Yang-ha's being the real thing?
Well, the drama doesn't go into a lot of detail in that department, which I appreciate honestly,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 82014/05/27,
The gambling scenes in this drama are a bit inexplicable without the context of the rules. For the poker game that makes up the opening, what you need to know is that one character has about an 87% chance of winning, and the losing character either needs a straight, a flush, or four-of-a-kind in order to beat his rival. As far as baccarat goes forget it. Even if I knew how that game works there's no way I could explain it succintly in a single sentence.
The essential thing to understand about these games is that they're played according to rules, and that outside of cheating, there's no such thing as perfect play,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 72014/05/26,
Until this episode I don't think I fully appreciated how many characters there really are running around here and how surprisingly interconnected everyone is. This isn't really a recap episode, but it's an excellent one to watch if you want to get a hold of how they're all related to each other. Nearly all of them have some sort of direct personal or business relationship with at least two other characters directly and clearly defined.
It's an interesting conceit taken in concert with the drama's core concept- these three men are brothers, but they don't know it,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 62014/05/20,
Last episode Yeong-dal's crazy scheme exploded right in his face. This episode, undeterred, he continues to come up with more terrible ideas. Yeong-dal really does not have the slightest clue. The guy genuinely believes he's at the center of this story where destiny is going to be made. The shame of it all is that Yeong-dal's got decent enough charisma. There's so many good things he could be doing with that. But Yeong-dal chooses to to buttress his pride and act like a gangster instead.
Unreasonable pride is the main calling card of "Triangle - Drama", and it's only accentuated by the fact that none of our three leads even have anything to be proud about,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 52014/05/19,
Yeong-dal's plan predictably ends in disaster. Well, actually, not really. Compared to what gangsters normally do to people who try to steal from them, I'm surprised Yeong-dal got off as lightly as he did. In typical form, though, the mancompletely fails to appreciate how incredibly lucky he is that things did not go much, much worse, and spends most of the rest of the episode sulking in his injured pride.
The funniest part about Yeong-dal is that he often makes right decisions but for really dumb reasons,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 42014/05/13,
Taken out of context from the rest of the drama, the first scene here actually looks pretty mainstream. You've got the rough guy from the wrong side of the tracks running from gangsters, holding his love interest by the hand, then there's an epic fight scene and a rather fuzzy intermittent period where we're left wondering, what exactly happened to Yeong-dal? It's a question that lingers over the rest of the episode.
From the few snippets we do get of the guy, the impression is pretty clear that he's not doing well,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 32014/05/12,
Somehow this drama still doesn't have a plot. I was sure after the last cliffhanger we'd get some sort of conflict or tension, but after an extended brutal opening it's pretty much right back to business as usual. The three brothers continue to persist in their apparently purposeless lives. Even events that seem like they should be important, such as Yeong-deol running into Yang-ha, lack any kind of real urgency.
Again, it's pretty obvious that this is all part of the point. These are characters who make bad decisions mostly because it takes a really long time for the consequences to actually set in,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 22014/05/06,
The ambience takes an odd turn this episode. It's actually almost kind of optimistic. Granted, there's only so far mood can take us when events are this bleak. Yeong-dal (played by Kim Jae-joong) very nearly gets killed, and survives his brush with death entirely thanks a supporting word from one of his superiors. He has, naturally, learned pretty much nothing from this experience.
What makes Yeong-dal a bit strange here is that he's not particularly arrogant,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Triangle - Drama" Episode 12014/05/05,
This drama is quite sleazy. That shouldn't be too surprising, given how much sex, gambling, and anger issues factor in to the plot- but it's really all in the presentation. Directors Choi Jeong-gyoo and Yoo Cheol-yong portray a world of basically pathetic people who are only barely scraping by on their emotional and physical needs. Choi Jeong-gyoo also directed last year's "Two Weeks", and the tone here is quite similar. Whatever minor successes and failures our lead characters achieve here, they're all largely emblematic of purposeless lives,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Surgeon Bong Dal-hee"2014/03/29,
Melodrama and illnesses are no strangers to each other in Korean drama. From the common to overused cancer and amnesia to the more rare, like Leber's congenital amaurosis ('The King of Dramas'), drama just loves wringing tears out of viewers through health-related woes. The good thing with medical shows is that those woes actually belong and that they are often used more sensibly. 'Surgeon Bong Dal-hee' is one of those shows and unlike typical melodrama, it finds a balance between career and personal life and between hospital politics and patients, rather than letting one single element carry all the drama,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Wrap-up2014/02/08,
Every once in a while, and thankfully more and more often, a drama will come out which tries a progressive approach to the themes it handles and/or the very formula of Korean drama. In bigger or smaller ways, be it through their plot, their message, their characters or premise, they go for something new, even in the confines of a very limiting industry like the Korean drama one. 'The Prime Minister and I' went all out in being fresh, mature and endearing. Unfortunately and despite all its efforts and virtues, it eventually became a reminder that this industry rarely welcomes deviations and that drama writing is far from a polished art,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 17 Final2014/02/04,
I've been thinking ever since Na-yeong came back that it seems like the drama's writers aren't doing much with her. It's only this episode that I realized in some sense there's not much for Na-yeong to do. Her brother and his wife are glad to have her back. But an adult sibling doesn't rely on or need a sister as much as a man and his kids need their wife and mother. The question of abandonment is a strong one, and I could see here how the survivors ended up feeling ambivalent.
Mind, it took a bit of squinting to get there. "The Prime Minister and I" doesn't deal much with this issue directly,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 162014/02/03,
The drama takes a turn for the somber this time as characters mull over the latest dramatic developments and continue to prevent anyone else from doing anything. Yes, it would appear that "The Prime Minister and I" has received a single episode extension- and while nothing here is really wasted time, it still feels like the narrative is tap dancing around the the main question of what's going to happen with Na-yeong. The drama is very evasive regarding what anyone's long term plans are.
In the short term one thing is quite clear. Yool wants Da-jeong to stick around,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 152014/01/28,
The trouble with having a climax that's about people realizing their revenge schemes were a dumb idea is that...well...there's not really much of an exciting climax. All the potentially exciting dangerous plot stuff is what the bad guys are now trying to cancel, and for the most part they're succeeding. It's honestly kind of comical watching so many cast members working so frantically to prevent anything from happening.
The exception to this is Yool, who remains blissfully unaware of anything that's going on,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 142014/01/27,
The more vengeance related elements of the drama are starting to fizzle out. It really stinks for In-ho to have gone through all this trouble to try and set up this plan, only to find out now at the last minute that it was all for nothing. It's not that anything has actually happened to endanger the schemes or anything. There's just new information that's come up, pretty much out of nowhere, which calls the rationale of everything that's happened on the spy end of the plot into question.
Mind, there are still some unanswered questions. I can buy that Na-yeong (played by Jeong Ae-yeon) survived the accident, but why was everyone so sure she was dead when the body was never found? How has she been getting along this whole time?,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 132014/01/21,
Strangely, even though the last episode dealt with the aftermath of an assassination attempt, it's this time that we actually see characters reacting with a genuine sense of alarm. Yool, rather than brushing off Da-jeong's confession with the brusque casualness so often seen with emotionally closed off men in fiction, actually gives a serious considered response to her statement. And he puts a lot of thought into it too. The entire scene in the theater is a very rough one emotionally,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 122014/01/20,
No, the cliffhanger from last time has not completely changed "The Prime Minister and I" into a medical drama where everyone spends their time at the hospital. There wasn't actually a lot of drama on that point even at the time, given that the previews clearly showed Yool up and walking about. The man's still a little sore from his injury, but for the most part he's able to go about his daily life unimpeded.
So, given all this, what was the point of the attack from a narrative perspective? As of yet it's not clear who attacked Yool or why. Nor do any of the characters seem to have any idea,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 112014/01/14,
The political and romantic edges of the plot brush up against each other here, as we've barely even started out and Yool makes a statement that appears to be completely at odds with his serenade. I really like the sense of mystery Lee Beom-soo is able to pull off here. His actions are consistently inexplicable to Da-jeong, to the point she can't really guess why his emotions keep turning around the way they do. Even we in the audience are a little befuddled until the flashback explanation comes up.
Excellent use of flashbacks here, by the way. Evidently Da-jeong has been doing lots of stuff in the Kwon household while we haven't been looking,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 102014/01/13,
Has it really been 100 days? I'm asking that literally- I don't really remember how this drama has been keeping track of time. At the beginning there was this kind of confusing thing where we started in the present, then flashed back two months earlier, then somewhere we must have gotten caught back up again but it's hard to tell where exactly. It's a problem with the tone of the storylines, which feel urgent and unresolved so it's hard to figure out a precise timeline.
Fortunately, this kind of stuff really isn't that relevant to appreciating "The Prime Minister and I" as a whole,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 92014/01/07,
I guess Yool must have dismissed most of his bodyguards while we weren't paying attention- it's the only reason I can come up with for how he's able to keep popping up out of nowhere in places where no one is expecting to see him. Not to mention the rather shoddy security at the banquet which opens this episode up. That could have had rather unfortunate political implications. Not to mention career problems- even tabloid reporters know better than to try and play gotcha with world leaders,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 82014/01/06,
I have to admit, the romance in this drama can get pretty adorable. The cliffhanger last time honestly strained believability a bit- Yool was there in time to save her, but nobody in his security crew was? Still, it's hard to get annoyed about a story development that forces Da-jeong to play the doting wife, and also ends up with such an adorably cute little drawing on the cast.
At its best "The Prime Minister and I" has lots of neat little magical qualities that are somewhat silly but also endearing. Note the scene where Man-se greets his older brother,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 72013/12/30,
The plot kind of moves forward this episode. By the end every character has clear motivations. But more importantly, they have clear expectations of each other. This is significant, because even if we don't know exactly why Joon-gi (played by Ryoo Jin) seems to have it in for Yool, the fact that other characters believe he should be acting a certain way helps beg the question of why he's pushing so hard with the political machinations. It creates tension without wrecking the mystery.
In more general terms of characterization, we also get to see Yool in a much needed state of weakness,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 62013/12/24,
There's more spy antics this episode, though again they're lacking much punch and excitement. Again, if "The Prime Minister and I" wants to get into this kind of territory, the drama needs to stake out a clear villain, or else the tension doesn't make any sense. I think the production team is trying to play up the motivations as being a mystery to be finally solved, but this really just doesn't work when we need somebody to root for in the meantime.
Fortunately this aspect of the plot is dropped relatively quickly,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 52013/12/23,
Now that the wedding is over and done with, Da-jeong and Yool are in the thick of their manufactured relationship. Some fun scenes happen at home- most particularly with that ridiculous outfit Da-jeong keeps wearing. I'll admit it's pretty looking, but what's it even supposed to be? A hanbok? A dress? Some kind of weird fusion houserobe? I was quite relieved when another character straight up asked for her to explain the wardrobe.
Unfortunately, outside of this moment there's relatively little personality clash, making for a rather weak episode that fails to make good use of the strength of its cast,...More

"The Prime Minister and I" Yoona's behind cuts2013/12/22, Source, Yoona's behind cuts have been revealed.
Pictures of Yoona behind the scenes came up online. They look like pictorials although they are just rough cuts of her. Yoona is standing with a tearful face in front of a jewelry shop. Another picture of Yoona is in her wedding dress looking like a doll with her cute features,...More

[HanCinema's Drama First Look] "The Prime Minister And I"2013/12/21,
Between let downs and false advertising, 2013 has been a disappointing year for fans of the romantic comedy genre. While 'The Prime Minister and I' brought some hope, it also had a lot of worries attached to it. Now that four episodes have gone by and the show is settling into its routine, it is possible to make an assessment. Thankfully, for fans of rom-com, the worries mentioned are disappearing with each episode,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 42013/12/17,
We start out this time with an exploration of public face versus private face. Note how Yool is extremely rude and pushy to Da-jeong whenever they're alone together, but whenever there's an audience, he's much better at keeping himself polite and decent. Yet even in these moments he's nowhere near plausible as her lover. The crux of the entire deception lies on the assumption that they're more intimate behind closed doors. Yep, this is definitely a situation that qualifies as comedic irony.
More interestingly, we see this influence reflected in Yool's children. It's the first clear clue we're given of what kind of values he's instilled in them. Well, the older two anyway,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 32013/12/16,
This drama seems to spend an awful lot of time just hanging out in Da-jeong's imagination. Her ridiculous assumptions about Yool's intentions toward her just keep getting weirder. It's a nice touch that even outside the context of tabloids, she still thinks about Yool in headline grabbing terms. Unsurprisingly, Yool considers her a massive inconvenience in the household. Da-jeong is a constant reminder that who he actually is as a person is completely divorced from how the public sees him.
Mind, this is probably a good thing. Yool is just a really mean guy. It's a nice touch that for all of Da-jeong's ridiculous fears, Yool actually ends up threatening her over something much more mundane and ridiculous,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 22013/12/10,
The drama's still working on justifying its rather absurd premise. For what it's worth, the escalations are convincing enough I might actually buy this storyline even if it wasn't framed by the knowledge that Yool and Da-jeong are eventually moving into a sham marriage. There's just this great sense of mounting disaster as reactions keep piling up to the latest step in the scheme that forces our leads to keep going on with the charade.
We've finally found something that Da-jeong is actually good at- making up ridiculous yet plausible stories on the spot. So far there isn't anything that could really be pinned down as an inconsistency,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "The Prime Minister and I" Episode 12013/12/09,
As far as tabloid reporters go, Da-jeong (played by Yoona) is pretty incompetent. The first we see of the woman attempting to do her job, we find that she is using what can best be described as the largest, loudest camera available for a task that requires stealth. Her sense of subtlety is practically non-existent. Da-jeong doesn't seem to appreciate that working for an outfit with a name as ridiculous as Scandal News means she can't even give out her business card without being mocked. Peers and interviewees both view her with thinly veiled disdain.
Most of the humor in this first episode comes from Yoona's ability to sell Da-jeong as an optimistic, cheerful, aggressive woman who is aiming her efforts very poorly at living a dream which she should really just give up,...More

[HanCinema's Column] Kdrama Fandom - Accepting Creative Decisions2013/12/07,
The persistence and aversion to change of the majority of kdrama fans is nothing new. Neither is our overall preference for romance, handsome young men and the less challenging sides of entertainment. However, where one would think there are limits to how strong and forceful that behavior can get, we are often surprised to find out it gets worse,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Preview] "The Prime Minister And I"2013/12/07,
2013 has not been a great year for fluff or dramas in general. With a few exceptions garnering great love and ratings, it has been quite a melodrama-oriented and boring ride. Here to shine a ray of hope in the rom-com fluff department is 'The Prime Minister and I', which starts its run on December 9th.
Premise
Kwon Yool (Lee Beom-soo) is the nation's youngest Prime Minister. At the age of 42 and widowed 7 years ago, he is a workaholic with zero skills at being a father to his three children. Nam Da-jeong (Yoona) is a 28-year-old woman who wanted to be a writer like Jane Austen. Needing money to take care of her sick father (Lee Han-wi), that dream is put on hold and she now works as a tabloid reporter. Her latest task, stalk the Prime Minister to get dirt on his love life. When a scandal breaks out about her being his woman, they find themselves faced with some tough decisions. Enter contract marriage and hopefully, hilarity and romance,...More

Lee Beom-soo Steps Behind Camera to Crusade Against Smoking2013/08/28, Source,
Actor Lee Beom-soo has made his directorial debut with a short film urging people not to smoke. Lee, who is a promotional ambassador for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, unveiled "Puppet" at the Sponge House Theater in Gwanghwamun, Seoul on Tuesday. It was made as part of an anti-smoking campaign funded and organized by the ministry,...More

On a different scale "Iris 2"2012/12/27, Source,
Pictures of the drama "IRIS 2" from different foreign locations have been coming up online recently.
The actors and actresses in the pictures look like as if they are taking photos for a collection,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Over My Dead Body"2012/04/14, Wu Seon-ho makes his feature-length film debut with "Over my Dead Body", a black comedy about a mismatched trio as they attempt to steal and ransom the corpse of a money grabbing capitalist. Wu claimed the comedy award at the 4th Mise-en-scene Short Film Festival with "My Really Big Mike" and managed to recruit an interesting mix of actors to take part in this run around heist flick,...More

Art and Culture2012/04/03, Source,
It's a rainy Tuesday afternoon, and for those of you looking for something to do INDOORS, our arts and culture reporter Michelle Kim has the details on the latest events. Hello, Michelle
[Reporter : Michelle Kim] Hello, Conn-young
Well, it's pouring outside and all I want to do is watch a fun movie, indoors, with some popcorn and a soda. Do you have any suggestions about a rainy day movie[Reporter : ] How about four options A Korean movie newly released in theaters is sure to make you laugh, although you wouldn't know it from the movie's description,...More

'Salaryman', comic tribute to breadwinners2011/12/26, Source,
From left, Lee Beom-soo, Jeong Ryeo-won, Hong Soo-hyeon and Jeong Kyeo-woon pose at the press conference for "Salaryman" in Mok-dong, Seoul on Thursday. / Korea Times
By Noh Hyun-gi
Korean corporate life is unique yet similar to the Japanese office culture and something Westerners may find tricky to decipher. Promising to provide a glimpse into that singular world, a new drama, "Salaryman", combines comedy and action in a plot featuring corporate spies. Actor Lee Beom-soo plays the main character Yu Bang, who after years of unemployment, volunteers to be a lab mouse for Cheonha, a pharmaceutical conglomerate led by Jin Si-hwang played by veteran actor Lee Deok-wha,...More

Rain, Girls' Generation win Seoul Art Awards2011/02/15, Source,
By Lee Hyo-won
Pop singers Rain and Girls' Generation, and actress Jeon Do-yeon, among other high-profile stars have been chosen as grand prize winners of the 2nd Seoul Art and Culture Award.
The awards, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Seoul City, features 11 categories and recipients were revealed Monday ahead of the ceremony later this month, in Seoul,...More

Giant: A Korean Drama Soap Opera About A Korean Family & Revenge2010/12/17, Source,
The Korean drama soap opera about a Korean family, "Giant", wrapped up recently with a 40.1% rating after seven months of airing. The setting is Seoul, 1970 through 2010. It cost almost $9 million to make this Korean drama soap opera about a Korean Family. Casting was composed of great actors and actresses such as Lee Beom-soo (Lee Kang Mo), Park Jin-hee (Hwang Jeong-Yeon), Park Sang-min (Lee Sung-Mo), Jeong Bo-Suk (Jo Pil-Yeon). Even the supporting actors were well-known. Also, the director presented admirably suitable settings for each time period that many viewers claimed they could recall,...More

[REVIEW] SBS series "Giant" 2010/12/08, Source,
Cho Pil-yeon (Jeong Bo-seok) from SBS drama "Giant" [SBS]
How would the name Cho Pil-yeon (Jeong Bo-seok) be written in Chinese characters? How about "必 (necessity)" for "Pil" and "然 (obvious)" for "-yeon", which adds up to mean "inevitable?" It was pure coincidence that Manbo Plaza collapsed on the day he was at the hearing to be designated a prime minister of the country. However it was only a matter of time that Manbo Plaza, the pinnacle of all shoddy constructions, crumbled to rubbles or his account book of illegal funds testifying to his years of corruption got disclosed,...More

SBS "Giant" completes run after ruling TV charts for 10 weeks 2010/12/08, Source,
SBS drama "Giant" [SBS]
SBS series "Giant" finished its run on December 7 while remaining the nation's most-watched Monday and Tuesdays show for 10 consecutive weeks, according to data by Total National Media Statistics (TNmS) on Wednesday.
TNmS' statistics showed that "Giant" marked an average viewership rating of 36.7 percent this week, posting a mark of 40.1 percent in particular for its finale episode yesterday, the first time for the show to breach the 40 percent mark. AGB Nielson Media Research said "Giant" scored an average score of 35.4 percent,...More

"Marry Me, Please" scores 2nd win on weekly TV charts2010/10/11, Source,
Weekend family drama "Marry Me, Please" ("All About Marriage") [KBS]
KBS' weekend series "Marry Me, Please" ("All About Marriage") scored its second consecutive win on both weekly TV charts during the second week of October.
Data by TNmS (Total National Multimedia Statistics) and AGB Nielsen Media Research on Monday reported that the family drama was the most-watched show in the country with viewership ratings of,...More

"Dong Yi" competes against "Giant" on TV charts2010/08/11, Source,
Korean dramas "Giant" (top) and "Dong Yi" (bottom) [SBS/MBC]
MBC's historical drama "Dong Yi" and SBS' "Giant" competed in a tight race for the top spot on the TV ratings chart this week.
Figures from TNmS (Total National Multimedia Statistics) on Wednesday indicated that "Dong Yi", into episode 42, remained at No. 1 show in the country for the 18th consecutive week with ratings of 23.7 percent on August 9 and a half a percentile lower figure the following day,...More

Super Junior Leeteuk's sister signs with Mask Ent. 2010/07/13, Source,
Korean actress Park In-young [Park In-young's Cyworld]
Super Junior member Leeteuk's sister, Park In-young, has signed with Mask Entertainment, a talent agency in Korea.
"We signed an exclusive contract with Park last month. We are confident that she will become a great actress", an official at Mask was quoted as saying through a press release on Tuesday,...More

[INTERVIEW] Child actor Yeo Jin-goo2010/07/06, Source, Interview with actor Yeo Jin-goo
Korean actor Yeo Jin-goo [10Asia/Chae Ki-won]
My name is Yeo Jin-goo. My name means the nine treasures and when I asked my mom why not ten, she said I should live my life looking for the last one. I was born on August 13, 1997. I will be 14 years old and I am in seventh grade just like my character Gang-mo in SBS TV series "Giant". I have a brother who is five years younger than me. He doesn't do it in front of me but when he's in front of his friends he boasts about me to them. However, he's not envious of me because I act or come out on TV. When I ask him if he wants to act he would say no, no, no. He is a lot more bashful than I am,...More

Actor Lee Beom-soo, 41, tied the knot with Lee Yun-jin, an English interpreter at the Sheraton Grande Wal,...More

"Dong Yi" stays No. 1 show for sixth week2010/05/19, Source,
"Dong Yi" actress Han Hyo-joo and Lee So-yeon [MBC]
Ratings for historical epic "Dong Yi" turned to a decline this week but maintained its position at No. 1 on TV charts for the sixth consecutive week.
Figures released by TNS Media Korea revealed that "Dong Yi", into its ninth week of showing, reported an average viewership rating of 25.3 percent on Monday and Tuesday, the figure falling by 1.9 percent from last week's average,...More

"Dong Yi" claims top spot on Mon-Tues nights again2010/05/12, Source,
Official poster of "Dong Yi" [MBC]
MBC epic series "Dong Yi" reigned TV charts with high viewership ratings again, proving to be no match up against other dramas shown in the Monday and Tuesday prime time slot.
According to statistics released by TNS Media Korea, ratings for "Dong Yi" rose from 25.8 on Monday to 28.5 percent the following day, indicating that the show may soon breach the 30 percent mark since first airing on March 22,...More

[ChanMi's movie news] Sports film, "Bronze Medalist", touches hearts2009/07/06, Source, The new sports film, "Bronze Medalist" is about a female weight lifting athelete. Korea has its own sports that are loved and praised while other sports are forgotten or unpopular. Here, one of the unpopular sports by viewers is becoming the main story.
It hasn't been easy to portray sports in film and to be successful.
"Bronze Medalist" is based on a true story that has taken place in 2000 about an athelete who won 14 gold medals in the country and the coach. The two character bring out their sadness and anger that give the audience a moving experience through this film.,...More

High school is horror
2008/07/23, Source, Somewhat late and on its own, but August 7 will finally welcome a Korean horror film to the summer entertainment circuit. The title "Death Bell" ("Gosa") stands for midterms in Korean. The horror title will turn the figurative blood, sweat,...More

The New Year will be another one full of drama, as broadcasters prepare unique stories to grab audiences' attention. Korean dramas have always been at the forefront of domestic entertainment, for if a certain drama gains popularity, the actors ride,...More

Korean Films Enter Fukuoka Asian Film Festival2007/06/28, Source, The 21st Fukuoka Asian Film Festival opens June 29th and will run through July 8th in Fukuoka, Japan. This film festival started in 1987 to discover and nurture new filmmakers from all over Asia. This year, 14 films from nine nations will be introduced at the festival.

Medical dramas thrill local TV audience2007/01/31, Source, Historical dramas have ruled TV screens since last year with all three major broadcast stations in Korea rushing to produce epic series. But recently, local TV dramas seem to have found a new flavor. Making a big jump from using stories from ancient eras, TV screens have begun to focus on the lives,...More

NAMYANGJU, Kyonggi Province _ Local gangster comedy "My Wife Is a Gangster (Chopok Manura)" was a huge hit in 2001, drawing over 5 million moviegoers. But as goes with many sequels, the 2003 sequel was disappointing and commercially unsuccessful attracting less tha,...More

An Uneven 'Quest' for Something More2006/03/03, Source, One day while investigating a fake painting, Yoon Seo (Han Seok-Kyu), a renowned Chosun-era scholar, comes across a dirty book secretly circulated among the lower class. Yoon Seo starts writing erotic novels himself and later asks ranking gove,...More

The movie "Forbidden Quest" seems to want to express satire and the art of deviation, but by putting forth tragic love, it ends up being a story about neither. This movie is the directing debut of screenwriter,...More

Unremarkable Superstar has his day2004/09/16, Source, Korea once had a legendary baseball team.
In 1982, Korea's professional baseball league was founded at the behest of President Chun Doo-hwan who wanted to divert the public's attention away from politics.

Most of the teams had several superstars. But one team, the "Sammi Superstars", was misna,...More

Lee Beom-soo | Community

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i think lee boem soo is really a great
actor. i like to see his acting in
surgeon bond dal hee. tat is the first
time i saw him. initially i saw this
movie, i thought he is a real doctor, he
acts it like his own familar job. he is
an professional actor. c

Lee Beom-soo (이범수)

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